ʻiʻo
1. n. short rib extending upward from the tip of a paddle, on the forward surface. 2. prep. Nearly syn. with ia; used before proper names and pronouns. To; towards. Iob. 5:1. But implying motion. 3. adv. I, prep., and o, there. Yonder; aia no ia io, there he is yonder. see O. Io ia nei, adverbial phrase, hither and thither. 4. s. A species of bird; a hawk. 5. v. To flee; to hasten away with fear. 6. s. Name of a game. 7. v. To be loaded with bundles; ua alaulau. 8. s. A forerunner; one who announces the approach of a chief. 9. s. Lean flesh; the animal muscle. Anat. 3. A muscle; he io ku e, an antagonistic muscle. Anat. 26. 10. Flesh in general. Puk. 29:14. 11. Flesh, i. e., person. Oihk. 16:4. 12. One's flesh, i. e., kindred; relation. Kin. 29:14. Io maha, the muscle on the side of the head. 13. n. • flesh,
• meat,
• flesh and blood, fig., a relative;
• muscle, sinew,
• essence, substance.
• heart or gist of a matter. Many compounds and phrases with ʻiʻo are listed below. For the fern hōʻiʻo see hōʻiʻo. 14. s. Part; portion; reality; truth; verity. Ezek. 12:23. 15. adj. True; real; not imaginary; ua paa ka manao o kanaka he akua io no o Lono, the minds of the people were firm that Lono (Captain Cook) was a real god. 16. adv. Truly; really; verily; certainly; oiaio, truth. Io is a strong intensive. Pela io no ka hana ana a lakou; aohe io o ka hewa, the wickedness is great. 17. vs. true, genuine, significant, real; really, truly, surely, actually; true worth. 18. n. grain of wood. 19. positive (number...) seehelu ʻiʻo, helu ʻiʻo ʻole, helu piha, waiwaiʻiʻo, ʻiʻo ʻole (math.).
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302
Eia ʻiʻo nō, ke kolo mai nei ke aʻa o ka wauke.
Truly now, the root of the wauke creeps.
[It was not destroyed while it was small; now it’s too big to cope with. Said by Keaweamaʻuhili’s warriors of Kamehameha. They were at the court of Alapaʻi when the order was given to “Nip off the leaf bud of the wauke plant while it is tender” [E ʻōʻū i ka maka o ka wauke oi ʻōpiopio). This attempt to kill the baby didn’t succeed, and the child grew into a powerful warrior who quelled all of his foes.]
307
Eia ʻo Kuʻiʻaki me Huanu ke hana nei i ka lāua hana o ka ʻohi ʻiʻo pūpū.
Here are Kuʻiʻaki and Huanu doing their work gathering shellfish.
[An intense cold. A play on Kuʻi-ʻaki (Gritting-the-molars) and Hu-anu (Overflowing-cold). Huanu is Hawaiian for Juan.]
455
Hana ʻiʻo ka haole!
The white man does it in earnest!
[Hawaiians were generally easygoing and didn’t order people off their lands or regard them as trespassers. When the whites began to own lands, people began to be arrested for trespassing and the lands were fenced in to keep the Hawaiians out.]
480
Hapa haole ʻiʻo ʻoniʻoni.
Half-white with quivering flesh.
[What restless, active people these part-Caucasians are!]
737
He leho hou kēia, ke ola nei nō ka ʻiʻo.
This is a fresh cowry; the flesh is still alive.
[A warning that a new idea or plan may turn out badly. When the animal in a shell dies, a stench results.]
780
He maiʻa līlā, ʻaʻohe ʻiʻo.
A thin banana without substance.
[Not worth troubling about. Maiʻa can refer to either the fruit or the plant.]
1921
Kūneki nā kūʻauhau liʻiliʻi, noho mai i lalo; hoʻokahi nō, ʻo ko ke aliʻi ke piʻi i ka ʻiʻo.
Set aside the lesser genealogies and remain humble; let only one be elevated, that of the chief.
[Boast not of your own lineage but elevate that of your chief. Said to members of the junior line of chiefs.]
2108
Make nō ʻo Pāmano i ka ʻiʻo ponoʻī.
It was a near relative who destroyed Pāmano.
[Troubles often come from one’s nearest relatives. From the legend of Pāmano, a hero who met his death through his uncle, Waipū.]
2346
Nui ka ʻai ma ke kuahiwi, puʻu nō ka ʻai, ʻiʻo no ka iʻa.
There is much food in the mountain; puʻu is food and ʻiʻo is meat.
[This was said by the Reverend David Lyman, a missionary, in 1857 when his pupils went with him to the mountain and complained of having no food for the journey — there was an abundance of hāpuʻu and hōʻiʻo ferns in the mountains.]
2448
ʻO ke aka kā ʻoukou ʻo ka ʻiʻo kā mākou.
Yours the shadow; ours the flesh.
[A phrase used in prayers dedicating a feast to the gods. The essence of the food was the gods’, and the meat was eaten by those present.]
2395
ʻO ka ʻai no ka ʻai, ʻo ka ʻiʻo kanaka ka iʻa.
Food is here to be eaten, with only human flesh for meat.
[Said when there is nothing to eat with poi. There were once two boys of Kaʻū who won a riddling contest against a Kona man, the champion of the island of Hawaiʻi. In one riddle the boys claimed to be eating human flesh. The audience pondered this, since no meat was visible, and began to dispute the claim. Suddenly the boys popped wads of poi into their mouths and proceeded to lick their fingers — the “human flesh.”]
2942
Wini ʻiʻo nō!
How pointed!
[Said of a too-bold person who questions his elders, intrudes where he is not wanted, or talks out of tum.]